Finding His Way Home
by Revvie-S
Summary: An unexpected phonecall brings memories to the surface that Jack would have just as soon kept buried. He is forced to deal with them, and thus learns some shocking secrets about his past. Sam 'n Jack romance develops as mystery deepens. Completed!
1. Default Chapter

The turn of the road was hidden from view behind huge, gnarled trees, oaks by the look of them. Jack O'Neill stopped to ponder the memories that had brought him to this spot. He wasn't ready just yet to continue past that turn, hoping nothing would be altered yet sure it would be.

Things never stay the same.

He had always planned to come back to this peaceful house on the lake that shone so brightly in his mind out of a dark, difficult childhood. Its beauty had been a solace to him during the sad days after his father's death. But he hadn't imagined it would be over forty years before he returned. Three days before, he had received a phonecall, sitting at his desk in his office at the SGC, that had brought back scenes and people long forgotten.

"O'Neill," he'd answered in a monotone.

"Is this Jonathan O'Neill from North Inlet, Minnesota?"

Jack froze for a moment. North Inlet wasn't even on a map any more these days.

"Who's asking?" He responded guardedly.

"Jonathan? This is Miriam Bennett. Do you still remember me?"

Miriam Bennett. His mind was flying down a mental wormhole through the past. His neighbor, four years younger than him. They'd been in the same school, but with their age difference they might as well have been on different planets. She had grown up and stayed in North Inlet, one of the very few who didn't get out of town the day they graduated. Miriam had become good friends with Jack's mother, and in his mother's last years had been her nurse and caretaker.

Guilt fell heavily on him as he recalled those years of his mother's illness. He'd visited rarely and for only a day or two at a time. His mother had not been an easy woman. Miriam, however,had always treated Jack as an absentee son who had ignored his mother during her years of need.

"Miriam. Of course I remember you. Is there something I can do for you?" Jack was intensely curious about why she had called him of all people.

"No, Jonathan, but there's something I need to say to you. I called to tell you I'm sorry."

"What?" Jack was getting wierded out.

"When your mother died five years ago, I told you she left the house and her possessions to me. I lied to you. I thought I deserved them after all I went through with your mother. I forged the will you saw. I hid the will she executed. The truth is, she left everything to you."

"I- I don't know what to say." He really didn't. He should be angry at this woman and her betrayal. Press charges perhaps. But...he didn't want his mother's house. He didn't want her stuff. He just wanted to live in his present-day world and forget the past.

"I'll give you my phone number, and you can call me back if you decide to come see what is rightfully yours, here in North Inlet. I just wanted to say...I'm very sorry I lied to you."

"Why now?"

"My conscience won't leave me alone. I'm sick, Jonathan, and a lot of things I didn't used to think about have come back to haunt my mind. I haven't lived a very good life. I want to make things right."

Finally softening, Jack took down her phone number, spoke a few words of encouragement and hung up.

There was no way he was getting any more work done today. Jack got up and left his office, deeply troubled by the unexpected call and not at all sure how to react. His mind raced in fruitless circles and his head was hurting.

Somehow he ended up outside Samantha Carter's lab.

Relieved to find her still in her lab, Jack knocked politely on the doorframe to alert her to his presence because the door was already open wide.

"Come in, sir, I'm just finishing up this laser beam spectro-analysis..."

Sam, wearing absurdly large plastic safety goggles, was completely absorbed in the task before her. Jack grinned openly at her geeky-scientist appearance, mentally contrasting it with an image of her soldier persona neatly blowing away hundreds of replicators while sporting the same sort of goggles.

Jack walked over to her table and sat on a stool to watch her finish up.

"Something I can do for you, sir?" Sam asked distractedly.

"Just was hoping I could run some stuff by you."

Sam, finished with the laser and straightened up, now intrigued, fastening her full attention on him. Jack wanted to talk? Wow, this didn't happen very often.

"Sure. What's up?"

"Actually, not here. Would you be interested in grabbing a bite to eat somewhere?"

Even stranger.

"If 'somewhere' means 'anywhere other than the SGC cafeteria', then yes!"

"Great. Umm, thanks, Sam." They walked to the elevators in a comfortable silence.

Ever since the SGC and Tok'Ra had defeated the Replicators, and the rebel Jaffa had taken out the Goa'uld, Sam and Jack had been growing closer. All that had happened during that mission had changed them from coworkers to friends, and even something more. Their interactions were casual and full of playful banter, a far cry from the stiff military framework they had almost always kept in place before now. Jack found himself thinking of Sam at odd moments all throughout the day, and Sam was now in the habit of stopping by the General's office to walk with him to lunch on a daily basis. Somehow, the thought that others would see them together every day in the crowded cafeteria didn't matter all that much to either of them any more.

"So, what's going on?" Sam asked, once they were in his car and on their way down the highway.

"I received a call today from someone I haven't heard from, or even thought of, for more years than I'd like to admit. Woman named Miriam Bennett. She was my mother's nurse for a long time. She says she has some things of my mother's to give me."

"Okay," Sam said tentatively. "So what's wrong with that?"

"Well, there's more," Jack answered, his voice hesitant and conflicted. "She says she should have given it to me when my mother died, and that she forged a will so my mom's estate would be hers. Now she suddenly has grown a conscience."

"Wow," Sam responded.

"She says she wants me to come home so she can show me the house and whatever else there is that is rightfully mine."

"So... by 'some things' you mean a house? Where's home, Jack?"

"Well you know, upstate Minnesota. We've talked about this, haven't we?"

"Actually no." Sam hoped she didn't sound accusatory. But in spite of the years they had spent working side by side, closer than family, she knew next to nothing about Jack's past.

"I never told you I was raised in North Inlet, Minnesota? Huh! Well it's not even a place any more, just a handful of houses and a gas station on the lake's edge. I left to enlist when I was seventeen and only went back for visits from that time on."

"Is it pretty?"

"It's, uh, cold," Jack said after a moment. "It was pretty in its own way."

He'd never considered the aesthetics of North Inlet before. As far as Jack was concerned, in his later teen years it had mostly been a place to get away from.

"Yeah," he continued after a pause, "it's pretty I guess, sitting right there on the lake and all. In the summer, that is. Is this okay?"

Jack had pulled into a parking space at a tiny diner that had seen better days. They were on the edge of town, and the city lights were few and far between out here.

"Sure. You been here before?" Sam asked dubiously.

"It's better than it looks. Come on."

Once they had slid into a small booth in one corner of the little restaurant and placed their orders with a matronly waitress who gave Jack a familiar smile and greeting, Sam gave him a purposeful look and pushed on with their previous conversation.

"So, have you decided to go and claim your inheritance?" she asked curiously.

Jack looked up suddenly, catching her eyes with an intense, almost desperate gaze. Sam was shaken to see a touch of fear there.

"Well, look into it, at least. I'm going to take a week's leave."

He broke eye contact and studied the metal fork in front of him, turning it over and over in his hands, a signal Sam knew well, and she began to be even more concerned for him. Jack O'Neill was a lot more disturbed by this turn of events than he was letting on.

"Diet Coke for the lady here, water and a beer for you, General," the waitress announced in a soft, worn voice.

"Thanks Donna," O'Neill smiled charmingly.

"You two ready to order?"

"Why, here's my favorite waitress again. Reuben, Donna, with-"

"-extra kraut, yes sir, General." Donna's smile was childishly pleasing. Sam tried not to smirk at this added evidence of the General's legendary charm on women.

"House salad for me," Sam interjected.

"Jack? Tell me about your parents. About North Inlet."

Sam managed to sound a lot more confident than she felt as she asked the question. She'd known this man for eight years and knew virtually nothing about his past, having always just accepted that he was a fiercely private person. But now he'd suddenly and surprisingly shared a few tantalizing details with her about his childhood. It was a beginning.

Jack leaned forward onto his crossed arms on the table. "My father was a pioneer, I guess you could say. He could do a little bit of everything. He loved the outdoors and he was strong as an ox. He was honest to a fault. If Dad said he'd do something or be somewhere, well, you could count on it. He met my Mom when they were in grade school, and I guess they just grew up destined for each other. He used to say he was 'born married.' I was eleven when he died. He died in a hunting accident. My Mom was never the same after that."

"What about you?" Sam prompted when he stopped talking and stared at his hands pensively.

"Dad and I were hunting deer up on the mountain beside the lake and we'd just spotted a big buck, probably 5 or 6 points. We crouched down and Dad aimed his rifle, and he just... slumped over. Never moved again. A hunter behind us was aimed at the same buck. Dad was in his line of fire. I don't remember hearing a shot... I just saw him fall."

Sam's eyes widened, stunned and full of heartbreak. This wasn't the answer Sam had expected when she had prodded him for his feelings about his father's death.

"Oh, Jack! That's awful! You were with him!"

Jack was silent for a long time, and Sam stole glances at him. He was turned away from her, looking out the diner window, and she could see him swallow hard a few times.

"Yeah," he finally continued, looking at her again. "First time I ever saw anyone dead. And it was my father. He never wore those orange vests. Said they scared the deer. I was this far away-" Jack held up his hands to demonstrate.

"Could have just as easily been me."

Sam couldn't resist reaching out to put a hand on his arm, almost crying herself. "That must have really scared you."

"I had nightmares. For a long time. The man who shot him was never discovered. I used to dream he was coming after me. I'll never forget his face."

"You saw him?" Sam asked gently.

"Yeah." His voice was little more than a whisper. He suddenly wiped an unsteady hand over his face. "He was a stranger to North Inlet. I'd never seen him before. But he was real close to us, too close for it to have been an accident...I'll never forget what he looked like." This was said with the vehemence of a grieving little boy.

Sam's heart twisted for him.

"He's been dead over forty years," Jack exclaimed in wonder and grief.

Sam wanted nothing more than to hold him close in comfort.

After a few minutes, Jack began speaking again.

"After that, it was just me and my Mom. She was afraid something was going to happen to me, too. So afraid she couldn't ever let go of it. I didn't respond too well to that. The more she hovered, the more risks I took. It's a wonder I grew up, come to think of it. I left home right out of high school and was into the service and then black ops soon after that. The more dangerous the assignment the better I liked it."

"So I'm guessing your Mom didn't hear from you too much."

"Nope."

"I'm really glad you told me all this," she assured him quietly.

"I'm really glad you're here with me," he replied quietly. He caught her eyes then with a sincerity that warmed her inside. The little boy was gone now, and in his place was the General, the capable man she had grown to know and love so well.

They were quiet for a long time after that. This was one of the things Sam loved most about him: how comfortable she felt with him with or without words. Seeing relief and contentment... peace, now creeping across his face, she knew Jack felt the same, enjoying being with her even during long silences.

Jack pushed his plate away.

"You ready to go?"

"Sure. When will you be leaving for Minnesota?" Sam let him help her slip on her quilted corduroy jacket and they headed out.

"As soon as I can clear out my in-box. Or get Walter to do it for me," Jack smiled impishly.

"Uh... thanks, Carter." He didn't elaborate further, but the warmth in his eyes said the rest.

"Anytime. I could come with you?"

"You could...if your boss gave you some time off."

"Does that mean he will, or he won't?"

"Sam, I really appreciate it. But this is something I should probably do alone. But thanks. I mean it."

"Call me and let me know how it's going, okay?"

Sam held onto his sleeve, not allowing him to escape just yet. After a pause he slowly turned and faced her, his expression a mix of gratitude and cautious relief that he had chosen not to hide from her any longer.

"I will, Sam."

Two days later, Jack was shivering in the cold breeze blowing off the lake in North Inlet. Making a sudden decisive turn, he continued down the path and around the bend, finally laying eyes on the quiet, clapboard house he had once known so well. Walking up to the door, he found it locked, and looking in the window saw the interior, dark and somber. A note was taped to the door jamb instructing him to call Miriam Bennett upon his arrival.

Jack flipped open his cell and placed the call immediately.

"Miriam, this is Jack O'Neill."

"Welcome home, Jack. I'll send Teddy over to the house with your key right away. How was your trip?"

"Trip was long, but okay. How are you, Miriam?"

"I'm not feeling well today. Teddy will help you with anything you need. Perhaps we can talk tomorrow."

"Uh, okay. Feel better. So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yes, Jack."

"Good night."

She sounded as cold as ever, Jack thought bitterly as he hung up. He had barely settled on the front steps, however, when a tall, skinny boy in his late teens came loping up the path from the direction of Miriam's house, carrying a lantern in one hand and a paper sack in the other.

"Teddy, I presume?" Jack stuck out his hand before he awkwardly retracted it, realizing Teddy had no hands with which to shake.

"Yes, General O'Neill. Aunt Mim said you'll need this oil lantern. Electricity been cut off for months now in there." He gestured at the dark Victorian structure. And she sent you some supper, in here-" he handed Jack the paper bag with a shy grin. Jack liked him immediately.

"Thank you, Teddy. Tell your Aunt that the supper is greatly appreciated."

"I fixed the bed in the front room for you, General. Oh- and Aunt Mim said to call her in the morning so's you and her can meet up for breakfast at our house. Good night, sir!"

"Night. Thanks again."

Teddy was gone as fast as he had arrived, leaving Jack alone in the deepening twilight, standing on the threshold of a house that seemed eerily dark without electrical lights.

Suppressing a shiver, Jack hurried in to set the lantern on the table and light it, anxious to dispel the gloom around him. As the light shone out and his body visibly relaxed, he had to laugh at himself.

Big, bad, Goa'uld-busting, black-ops trained General O'Neill, afraid of an old house.

But he was afraid. Afraid to stir up the memories he had so carefully locked away all these years.

TBC

* * *

_Author's Note: Okay, there's more, but let me explain. This has been sitting on my hard drive for months while I tried to decide whether to go ahead with it or not. It's kind of different than the stuff I usually write. But I love mysteries and I wanted to explore what might have happened in Jack's childhood to make him the man he is today. Thnaks for reading, hope you liked!_


	2. Jack's Childhood Home

Sam sat up abruptly in her bed and jolted awake. She had been dreaming something that she could no longer remember, but judging from the sheen of cold sweat covering her body, it had been disturbing. She got out of bed and padded to the kitchen, flipping on the light over the sink and filling a mug with water to microwave for some herb tea.

As she sat down with her steaming cup, her mind drifted to Jack for the countless time that week, wondering how he was faring up in North Inlet, alone. Ever since his disclosure to her in the diner about his past, remarkable in both its unexpectedness and its detail, Sam had wanted nothing more than to jump in her car and follow him up there. He'd been gone for two days now, and she hadn't heard from him yet. Not that she expected to. It was just as likely that her very private friend would never speak to her again about this strange episode in his life.

The more she thought about the events he'd related concerning his father's death, though, the more it had struck her as peculiar. If North Inlet was as small as he said, then a stranger wouldn't have gone unnoticed for long. But if the shooting had been accidental, why hadn't the man just turned himself in? He wouldn't have gone to jail for an accident. And why did Jack remember him with such dreadful clarity? He must have been very near Jack and his father when he shot him.

It had most likely been deliberate, Sam was realizing; chances were Jack's father had been murdered all those years ago and Jack had seen the killer. Somewhere in his mind, Jack must know it too. He just didn't want to think about it.

* * *

"Good morning Miriam," Jack greeted the frail woman, seating himself at her kitchen table with a generous mug of coffee before him, provided by Teddy. The boy slipped out of the room upon receiving a nod of the head from the sullen older woman. 

"Hello, Jonathan," she answered. Her eyes studied him gravely and without emotion. Miriam shoved a pile of papers in front of him.

"I won't keep you. The deed to the property, the keys to the house, the will, and a few other documents you should have are all there."

Jack looked at her in amazement.

"So, that's it? Just like that?"

Finally, Miriam visibly displayed enough of the remains of a conscience to appear a bit uncomfortable.

"I have nothing else to give to you," she explained coldly. "My phone number is on the package there, however. If you have a question about any of this, call me. Teddy and I aren't goin' nowhere."

"Okay," Jack sighed. "Thanks. I guess."

She was somehow able to make him feel dirty and guilty just for being there. He tucked the bundle of papers and envelopes under his arm, stood up and gave her one last searching stare before stretching on his toesand heading towards the door.

"You leavin' North Inlet, then?" She asked.

"Actually, I thought I'd stick around a few days. Got a few places I want to visit again, that sort of thing." Jack lithely shrugged the plaid flannel shirt further up his shoulders in a restless gesture.

"Teddy will see you out," she nodded at the boy. "And Jonathan?"

"Yeah?"

"Your mother was a good woman, you know."

Jack turned and continued walking to the door. "Yeah." He agreed quietly yet bitterly. Without another backwards look, he left.

* * *

"Hey, Sam," Daniel greeted the scientist with a friendly grin upon finding her nursing a cup of tea in the cafeteria. 

"Sam?" Daniel attempted once more, leaning down into her face. She hadn't acknowledged his presence by either word or gesture.

"Daniel! Sorry, I guess I'm a bit preoccupied."

"Would this have anything to do with Jack?" Daniel queried as he sat down next to her.

"Oh, did he tell you about his trip too?" Sam asked, surprised. She'd been under the impression that she was the only person Jack had confided in before his abrupt departure to Minnesota.

"What trip would that be, Sam?"

"Uh oh." No, Daniel was just good at worming things out of her.

"I've noticed he's gone, and you're walking around like you're in another dimension. So I decided to come find out what's going on. Is Jack okay?"

"Umm, uhh..."

"Okay, let me guess. Jack told you he had to go take care of something that he doesn't want anyone to know about, and you think he needs help, but you don't want to break his trust."

"You're good, Daniel."

"Sam, one thing I've learned about Jack over the past ten years is he may act like he's dealing with stuff on his own but he's not dealing with it at all in reality."

"So what do you think I should do?"

"Take some leave, you've got more leave saved up than all four of us put together. The only one of us who doesn't know how much Jack relies on you is Jack. Go be there for him. Do it for all of us. I'm worried about him, too, you know."

"I want to, Daniel, really. But Jack doesn't want any company right now."

"Why? Because he said so? He doesn't know what he wants. Needs."

Sam smiled and nodded, thinking through the idea. "Maybe I will. I'm not sure yet, but you might be right."

* * *

Another night in the dark, drafty house had taken its toll on Jack. His sleep these last three nights had been light and fitful, and his mood this morning due to the accumulating lack of sleep was beginning to be truly frightful. He sat outside in a bent willow lawn chairperched inthe shade of an old tree, shuffling through the mass of papers he had been given by Miriam. Not just deeds and legal documents, there were newspaper articles, old pictures, even a recipe stuck in between the pages. Jack sorted the stuff into several piles, trying to make sense of it all. 

Since leaving Miriam's house two mornings ago, Jack hadn't seen, nor had he talked to, anyone. He'd spent most of yesterday meandering through the woods around his mother's property.

He'd found himself, at one point in the afternoon, standing on a treed hillside, when a rush of familiarity had overwhelmed him so thoroughly that he had sat down right where he stood. He was on the very hill where he'd watched his father die. Even all these years later, the shock was profound and he had left the area as soon as he was able.

Later that evening, he'd wandered down to the shore of the lake and watched the sunset, recapturing the awe and appreciation he'd felt in his youth for the natural beauty of this place. Getting back to the old house without the benefit of a light had been a bit tricky, but he'd managed to find a few candles and Teddy's oil lamp and light them in the main room. It was kind of fun making do without electricity, Jack thought.

But bynow, the next morning, the stillness was getting tedious. He stood and headed back to the house to grab a can of coke out of the cooler he'd been keeping in the kitchen, but stopped on the threshold when he heard a noise down the drive. A car engine. Someone was coming to see him.

Jack walked back out to the driveway just as Sam's silver coupe rolled to a stop a the top of the drive. He watched in amazement as she jumped out and walked towards him, yawning and smiling, dressed casually in a long sleeved, flowered shirt, paired with jeans that looked flawless on her.

"Sam?"

"Uh, sir, I'm sorry to just drop in on you without any warning, and I know how you hate to be surprised like this, but I-I--"

With single-minded sureness Jack walked straight over to her and was now hugging her so disarmingly that she stuttered to a halt. Closing her eyes, she breathed deeply and simply, savoring his affection and warmth that washed over her. It was obvious to her from his unguarded reaction to her presence that no apologies or explanations were needed.

"I'm really glad you're here. I was this close-" he held up his fingers, half an inch apart- "to calling you, anyway." Jack stepped back a bit. "Come on in, I'll show you the house I grew up in."

Sam followed him up the wide, worn down porch steps, noticing the broken woodwork and peeling paint, and into the front hallway.

"Back here is the kitchen, best room in the house," Jack was calling from the back of the house, having left her standing near the front door. She followed his voice and joined him in a room of red brick and darkened wood floorboards, a big, rambling country kitchen typical of turn-of-the-century houses. It had a certain Victorian charm that appealed to Sam's sense of décor.

"Coffee's still hot," Jack noted, pointing to a generously sized percolator perched on a hot wood stove. "No electricity," he explained.

"Wow, so you've been roughing it?" Sam smiled. If anyone could adjust seamlessly to a lack of electrical power, it was Jack. She helped herself to a spatterwear blue coffee mug and filled it with the comfortingly hot beverage. Sitting near the warm stove in a cheerfully padded wooden rocker, Sam sighed with pleasure.

"If I'd known you were staying in a place this lovely, I'd have come with you to begin with."

"You should have. Although, it doesn't seem all that lovely to me at the moment. Hey, you're good with paperwork. Come out and help me sort out all this stuff, please, Sam?" Jack gestured towards the window at his piles outside under the tree, each secured with a dusty rock. Sam shuddered at the casualness with which he was treating the valuable old documents.

"Sure," she agreed readily.

Soon Sam had taken the situation well in hand. Persuading him to move the whole operation indoors hadn't been too hard, especially when a wind off the lake began to worry the loose pages. Now she had somehow pulled out several file folders and was neatly labeling and filling up each one. Jack had left the whole mess in her capable hands as soon as he had been able to sneak away gracefully, and was now keeping her supplied with coffee while he made a dent in the beer supply. She worked at the sturdy oak table in the center of the kitchen. He watched her from the comfortable embrace of an old easy chair which he had pulled up near the wood stove.

"There are enough pictures to fill two file folders in here. This must be you," Sam cooed, holding up a black and white photo of a boy, around seven years old, dressed in his best suit and wearing a huge scowl.

"Yes, I loved dressing up then about as much as I do now." Jack grimaced.

"Who's this?" Sam asked curiously. She was holding a picture of Jack, now about twelve, standing next to a serious young girl of nine or ten. Her dark brown hair hung in two neat braids and her hands were straight at her sides as if she were at attention.

"Miriam Bennett," Jack answered woodenly. He turned away. His mood had changed as abruptly as a summer storm.

"Why don't you two like each other?"

"I don't know," Jack answered, bemused. "But she's never liked me and so, I avoided her. It was mutual. But I don't know what started it, it's just the way we've always been."

"Your mom must have taken this, you can just see the shadow of someone in a dress here," Sam pointed out. "Although, it looks like someone is standing next to her, right next to her, from the look of this other shadow. Hmm. Your Dad must have been with her."

Jack smiled at Sam's usual microscopic thoroughness, but then frowned and took the picture from her hands, studying it closely. Then he handed it back.

"It does look like two shadows, but it couldn't have been my Dad. He was dead when this was taken. That was at his funeral."

"Maybe it was an uncle, or someone close to your mother?"

Jack was silent for a long moment. "Maybe." His facial expression said otherwise. He had no relatives on his mother's side.

"Sorry, Jack," Sam suddenly said, putting the picture away. "I'm not being much help, am I? How about I cook us something for dinner?"

Jack finally smirked and began to look relaxed again. "You are worried about me if you're offering to cook. It's okay, you don't have to resort to cooking for me. I've got some fresh groceries. You can help me come up with something creative."

Sam began hunting through the kitchen to familiarize herself with its contents while Jack picked up the papers from the table, now neatly ordered, and removed them to the desk in the foyer. He glanced back at Sam, and then carefully pulled out the photo again.

Something about it was niggling at him, but he just couldn't quite retrieve it from his hazy childhood memory banks.

Shaking his head, he put the picture away and went in to be near Sam.

He was glad beyond words for her uncomplicated presence, and for her unexpected yet welcome appearance this morning.

He needed her here, he admitted to himself.

This house, with its claustrophobic shadows of memories, was really starting to get to him.


	3. Trying to Get Past the Past

_A/N: I really appreciate the feedback and interest in my little mystery story! Sam has come up from the SGC to join Jack at his childhood home. She gets sucked into the mystery. Jack, however, would like to just forget about it all. Though this chapter does not mention the mysterious picture previously found by Jack in the document package, it will come back into the 'picture' again, soon. Very soon._

* * *

The smell of pot roast and potatoes filled the kitchen and living room with a mouth watering aroma. Sam and Jack had managed to put together an appetizing combination of meat, vegetables and seasonings, leaving it to cook slowly over a low fire in the wood burning oven. Jack was sitting out in his bent willow lawn chair again, reading through some SGC mission proposals he'd brought along with him, when the smell tempted him inside for a peek in the pot. He looked around curiously after replacing the lid. 

It was very quiet.

Where was Sam?

Hunting around, he found her sacked out on the couch in the living room, so deeply asleep she was almost snoring. He watched her fondly for a few minutes, then drew closer and softly stroked her hair where it lay on the couch pillow. He winced regretfully when the almost nonexistent touch nevertheless woke her.

"Sorry," he apologized. "I didn't want to wake you."

"It's okay, sir, I should check on dinner anyway," she yawned.

"Did you drive all night?" Jack asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, I suppose I did," Sam confirmed sheepishly. "Look, I know this sounds strange, but I had a ... bad feeling, and I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Doesn't sound strange. It sounds sweet. Thanks."

Perhaps the environment here was so different from what they were used to dealing with together that it made them act like different people. This O'Neill was so foreign to her, this gentle, soft-spoken man who was reaching out and playing with a strand of her hair. She decided she liked it.

A lot.

So instead of moving towards the kitchen, she scooted over and patted the couch next to her. With a heartfelt sigh, Jack settled in beside her and lay his hand on her knee.

"This is turning out to be a good trip after all," he said with a warm light in his eyes directed at her.

"Tell me about the last few days," Sam invited.

"You know most of it. I went over to Miriam's two mornings ago and she gave me that pack of documents. Then she dismissed me, and I haven't seen anyone since. I've walked around North Inlet some since then, tried to fix up a few things around the house. That's it."

"I was worried when you didn't call. So were Daniel and T. In fact, one of us should probably give Daniel a call, or he'll be the next one to show up on your doorstep."

Jack smiled at that. "I'll call him. Go back to sleep, I'll wake you up when the food's ready."

Giving her knee a final pat, he stood up and waited until she'd stretched out,and then pulled a quilt off the back of the couch and spread it over her.

"I could get used to this," Sam purred as her eyes closed.

* * *

"Got any fives?" 

"Go fish. Got any eights?"

With a sigh, Sam plunked down two eights, and Jack laid down his two-card hand consisting of two more eights, winning the game. Again.

"I'll have to go 'fishing' with you more often, Sam, you're soooo easy to beat."

"It's a game of pure luck."

"Skill."

"Luck!"

"Skill."

After an early dinner, the two were so relaxed they were almost unconscious. The sun was beginning to set and the glow it cast across the living room was alive with color and warmth. Jack lazily gathered up the cards and shuffled them. Sam stood up and sluggishly dragged herself into the kitchen. Jack could hear her rummaging around in the icebox.

"Jack, all the ice is melted. And all the diet is gone." It was about as close to whining as Carter got.

Jack stood and yawned loudly. "It's not too far into town. Let's go get some more ice and drinks. C'mon."

The drive to the next largest town took just long enough that it was dark by the time they pulled into the grocery store parking lot. Jack and Sam both enjoyed the casual camraderie of picking out groceries together, joking and chatting their way up and down the isles. Of all the situations they had found themselves thrown into together over the years, Sam was beginning to think she liked this one the best.

By the time they were loading the groceries into the back of Sam's car, which Jack had insisted on at long last being permitted to drive, both were feeling a bit sleepy.

"General O'Neill!" A voice greeted Jack from the parking spot beside them. A rather rusty wagon had just pulled up and Teddy was leaning out of the driver's side window.

"Hi there, Teddy."

"Still here, huh? Aunt Miriam thought you'd leave pretty quick. Says you never much liked it around here."

Sam stepped forward from behind the open trunk of her car to see the boy.

"Yeah, still here. This is Colonel Samantha Carter. Carter, Teddy Bennett."

"Teddy Carriker, actually," the young man corrected him. "Nice to meet you, Colonel, ma'am, sir," Teddy stuttered, dutifully impressed.

"Nice to meet you, too, Teddy," Sam answered charmingly. Teddy had exited his car and was standing awkwardly in front of the beautiful woman, his hands jammed in his pockets.

"Well, gotta get Auntie her groceries, and stuff, uh, guess I'd better... see you around, huh?" Teddy was smiling at Carter with stars in his eyes.

"Yeah, see you around," Sam smiled.

"Bye," he cooed as he stumbled off towards the front entrance to the store.

"Well, he didn't react like that when he met me," Jack smart-mouthed.

"Gee, that's good to know."

Her eyes sparkled as they got in and drove back to North Inlet.

_Jack couldn't make out the shadowy figure standing ahead of him before the mysterious apparition turned and fled. Jack chased after him into the woods. The figure was walking briskly up a hill, into the trees of the Minnesota back country. Jack found himself sweating and breathing hard with exertion as he struggled to catch up._

_"Stop! Wait!" He called. Jack desperately needed to see who it was he was following._

_The man ahead stopped so abruptly Jack almost ran into him, then gasped in fright._

_It was his father. _

_The man's eyes glowed with eerie familiarity and sadness as he looked longingly at his grown son._

_"What the-" Jack choked out fearfully._

_"He had me shot, Jon," the figure said. _

_The voice was that of his father's, even after almost forty years there was no mistaking it. "You know who I mean."_

_"Who? I don't know who you mean."_

_"You know him."_

_"No, I don't! I'd never seen him before!" Jack protested._

_"Look for the picture and you will find him out. He had me shot, Jon," the figure repeated, then turned and walked away into the dense foliage. Jack was left standing on the hillside, surrounded by trees, unable to see his father any longer._

_"Stop! Come back!"_

_He was on that hillside, the one where it had happened._

_"Come back! Wait! Please!"_

Sam jerked awake in the huge bed in Jack's room, knowing she'd been awakened by something but not sure what it was. She peered into the inky blackness around her in the imposing room and suppressed a shudder.

"Wait! Stop! Stop!"

It was Jack, calling out from his bed on the couch downstairs. He sounded more upset than she'd ever heard him before in her life. Jumping up, she was down the stairs in a flash, knocking her shins several times as she navigated the unfamiliar territory in the dark. There would be some impressive bruises on her legs tomorrow, she thought with a grimace.

"Jack!" Sam saw him sitting up on the sofa with his face in his hands, still crying out with a hoarse voice, apparently still in between his dream world and the waking world.

"Wait!" He called again, but this time it was a weak moan, not a sharp cry. Sam knelt down in front of him and placed her hands firmly on his shoulders.

"Jack, it's okay, it's just a dream," she soothed, kneading his shoulders with a steady grip.

"Jack?" She asked again, trying to make eye contact. She was shocked to see his face wet with tears.

"Sam?" He finally answered her in a rough whisper.

"I'm right here," she assured him, never letting go of his shoulders. "Right here."

He finally looked at her fully and she watched the awareness of where he was slowly dawn on him. Swallowing hard a few times, he leaned back away from her, into the couch, manfully trying to compose himself.

"Wow," he finally commented.

"Wow. Sorry if I woke you, Sam."

"That must have been some dream."

Jack closed his eyes and shuddered involuntarily. "Yeah. Yeah, it was."

Sam finally released his shoulders and fumbled about on the side table for a few seconds, locating the box of matches Jack had left there. She lit the oil lamp and turned the wick up. Its cheery light worked to dispel some of the tension in Jack's face.

Returning to his side, she sat down next to him and without a moment's hesitation pulled him into her arms. She breathed out in relief when he didn't fight her, but instead nestled into the safety of her embrace, tucking his face against her neck.

"It must have been a dream, it had to have been, but I've never had a dream that was so...real. I saw my father."

Sam twitched against him. "What?"

"He said, 'he had me shot, Jon.' He said that I know who. But I don't know. I really don't."

Sam felt a shudder work its way down her spine. Surely it was just a bad dream?

"It was just a dream, Jack, you're awake now."

"It was a dream, I know that, but it wasn't like any dream I've ever had. It was like I was there. He said to look for the picture. That I would find him out. What does that mean?"

"Maybe nothing. Maybe being back here, in this town, and this house, is causing you to remember things you haven't thought about in a long time. That's all it was. Come on, Jack, I'll fix us some tea."

Jack nodded obediently, followed her into the kitchen and got the fire going in the woodstove. After poking at the fire for another minute, Jack sat down heavily and watched Sam preparing the tea.

"I'm thinking of leaving tomorrow. I'm going to call a realtor back in the Springs and sell this place. I don't have any use for this old house. And I'm quite sure I don't have the time to put into the long distance upkeep."

"Sell it? You just got it! This is a great house, Jack, why would you want to do that?"

"I don't see anything great about it. Thanks for the tea, Sam. It's good. But I think I'll turn back in now. Good night."

Jack got up and slowly, wearily made his way back to the couch. Sam heard the springs creak under his boneless weight as he collapsed for more sleep. After banking the coals in the stove, she picked up her cup and followed him out into the living room.

"Good night," she called to him as she headed back up the stairs. With one last look of concern, she disappeared up the dark staircase. With a shudder, Jack determinedly closed his eyes and willed himself to fall back to sleep.

When Sam got up the next morning, it was bright and sunny and she could smell the coffee already perking in the kitchen below. The room looked like an entirely different place in the morning light. Sam hummed contentedly as she washed and dressed.

"Good morning," she sang out happily, joining Jack in the kitchen for some breakfast.

"Still leaving?" She asked. He was packing kitchen items into a cardboard box for the trip home.

"Yup," he answered succinctly. "I wish we didn't have two cars here. It would have been a lot nicer to share the ride. Thanks for coming up here, Sam. It really meant a lot to me."

"You're very welcome. You'd do the same for me. Besides, I've really enjoyed being here with you. I'll just go grab my things out of the bedroom."

"No rush, Sam. I've got to eat at least three more doughnuts before we can go anywhere," Jack quipped, patting his stomach.

"I'll be right back. There better be a few of those left when I come back down!" Sam threatened laughingly.

She ran up the stairs and picked up the few toiletries and dirty clothes she'd left lying about. Ready to leave in just a few minutes, she started to head downstairs when the phrase 'look for the picture' leapt into her mind with a grim urgency. Sam shook her head; surely she was just remembering Jack's retelling of his dream.

But it was an insistent thought.

'Look for the picture.'

Turning, Sam went up the staircase to the third floor instead of down to join Jack. Scanning the rooms on the top level, she saw there was almost no furniture up here, and the dust and cobwebs attested to the fact that neither Jack nor anyone else had been up here in a long time.

A doorway at the base of the third floor landing stood slightly ajar. Sam hesitated, but her curiosity soon won out. Pulling at the handle, she found a ladder behind the door leading up to an open trap door, from which a faint glimmer of light was emanating, just enough to see her way. The stairs led to an unfinished attic. The light was seeping in around the eaves of the roof.

Sam almost decided to just turn around and go back down at this point. She felt like a terrible snoop. But the thought in her mind wouldn't let her go. Scanning the room quickly, the only thing she saw worthy of further investigation was an old trunk in the corner.

In a flash, Sam was kneeling by it and rifling through its contents.

Pictures.

She shivered from equal doses of fear and excitement.

"Sam! You coming?"

She could hear his voice from far below, so she grabbed a thick handful of pictures, slammed the trunk shut, and clambered back down the ladder. For some reason, she didn't want Jack to know she'd helped herself to the things in his mother's attic until she'd had a chance to have a private look at the pictures herself.

"Yeah, I'm almost ready," She answered as soon as she'd reached the safety of the second floor. The pictures were unceremoniously stuffed into her dufflebag along with her other things.

"Ready," She announced under his nose, hopping off the last step onto the landing of the first floor.

"Great. Let's go."

* * *

Back at the SGC, Daniel and Teal'C at first had little success getting anything out of Jack or Sam concerning what had occurred in North Inlet. Jack explained little more than what they already knew, and then announced his intention to forget the whole episode and get on with his life. 

Sam was even more tight-lipped, saying only that she'd minimally helped the General settle his affairs in the little town and had had a restful vacation in the bargain. The only thing she expounded on was the natural beauty of the town and surrounding area. After a few days, Daniel and Teal'C, though unsatisfied with the explanations, gave up and moved on. Just as Jack had wished, it seemed like everything was once again business as usual.

* * *

"Hello?" Sam asked through her peephole, half-awake. Who could it be at... she glanced at the clock in her foyer...0200? 

"Sam, it's me, it's Jack," answered a voice so rough and needy Sam barely recognized it. She immediately swung the door open and pulled him inside with a gentle tug. Instinctinvely, she leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, only to be met with a crushing embrace.

"I had that dream again. I swear, it was so real. It was like I was right there with him."


	4. Betrayal Revealed: Part I

"_Hello?" Sam asked through her peephole, half-awake. Who could it be at... she glanced at the clock next to her bed...0200?_

"_Sam, it's me, it's Jack," answered a voice so rough and needy Sam barely recognized it. She immediately swung the door open and pulled him inside with a gentle tug. Instinctively, she leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, only to be met with a crushing embrace._

"_I had that dream again. I swear, it was so real. It was like I was right there with him."_

Daniel stuck his head inside Jack's open office door when there was no response to his knock on the doorjamb.

"Uh, Jack?"

The General looked up from his paperwork, registering Daniel's presence for the first time. Daniel tried not to show the sharp concern he felt at the sight of the dark bags under Jack's eyes and the grey pallor to his face.

"Something you need, Daniel?"

Daniel's eyebrows raised. "Did you mean, 'good morning, Daniel, thanks for showing up to our regular 0900 planning meeting?'"

Jack smiled ruefully at that. "Yes, I guess that's what I meant. Have a seat."

"So, how're things?" Daniel asked after a minute spent studying the General's tired features.

Daniel wasn't as clueless as he was letting on. Sam had already been by his office earlier that morning, asking for Daniel's opinion on how to help the General, voicing her concern about Jack's increasingly serious lack of sleep.

"Sorry, Daniel. I'm having trouble sleeping lately, that's all. What'cha got for me?"

Daniel sat down and handed him two folders. He could see he wasn't getting anything else out of Jack in the way of personal information. Actually, Jack had already admitted to more than Daniel had expected him to admit. Clearing his throat, Daniel launched into an explanation of the missions he was bringing to Jack's attention. When he was through, the pause that hung between them indicated to Daniel that he'd lost Jack's attention.

"So?"

"So? Oh! Leave them here, I'll read them over later."

"Okay, Jack, what's really going on? You're a million miles away. You have been ever since you got back from Minnesota. What gives?"

"Sorry, Daniel."

"No, I really want to know, Jack. What's got you so distracted?"

"It's nothing, just a dream I keep having over and over. Ever since I went to North Inlet."

"That's why you're not getting enough sleep?"

"Yup."

Daniel watched and waited, but as usual, Jack had clammed up again.

"It's a recurring dream?" Daniel prodded, on the edge of his patience.

"Yeah, pretty much every night. But it doesn't make any sense, it's just images and pieces of conversations from a long time ago. It's always in the same place, the same things happen."

"Maybe there's more to it than just a dream. Maybe it's a memory you're trying to find."

"And? Dream, memory, whatever it is, it's driving me bonkers."

"So, I was just thinking, maybe Teal'C could help."

"How?"

"Maybe he could help you remember more. He's got meditation techniques."

"Like Kelnorim? Hmmm. Hey, at this point anything's worth a try."

"Tell him Daniel sent you." Daniel smiled like a salesman and was on his way.

* * *

"You must concentrate, O'Neill," Teal'C instructed patiently.

The two were seated cross-legged on Teal'C's floor, surrounded by burning candles. The sweet, aromatic smell of the burning wax filled the room. Teal'C's face reflected serenity; O'Neill's was lined with impatience and a touch of embarrassment.

"I am, I am," Jack protested.

"Concentrate. Delve inside your unconscious thoughts," Teal'C droned on as if Jack hadn't said anything.

Jack's brow furrowed into deep ruts. Sweat began to bead on his forehead.

"You are on the hillside." Teal'C intoned.

Jack was dizzy. He felt as if his body was slowly becoming weightless.

"You are standing face to face with the figure you see in your dream. He is speaking to you. Repeat what he says."

The smell of the sweet wax combined with the semi-darkness of the room around them was overpowering Jack's senses.

"What is he saying?" Teal'C commanded.

"You know him. You know who he is." Jack murmured in reply.

"Concentrate. Follow the figure and listen closely," Teal'C urged.

"There is a picture of him. You will know who it is when you find the picture. She betrayed me." Jack was too far into the meditation to be confused by the sudden change of gender.

"She wanted it for herself. But it is safely hidden. Uhh, there's more. Find the key. Floor. The floor. What the..." Jack's eyes popped open and he jumped up, flushed and frightened.

"O'Neill-"

"Oh yeah. This solved everything." Jack flipped the light on and tried to slow his tortured breathing.

"O'Neill."

"I gotta go, Teal'C. Uh...thanks."

Jack was out the door and had disappeared down the hallway before Teal'C had a chance to respond. The big Jaffa watched Jack go. His expressive face was filled with deep concern and pain for his friend.

* * *

"Sam?"

Jack pounded impatiently on her front door. He had raised his fist to beat on the door again when it opened and Sam stood there before him. She was getting used to these visits. Barging past her, he pushed inside the house and Sam could only helplessly tag along behind as he rampaged his way to the kitchen.

"Tell me I'm not going crazy!" Jack barked as he paced the floor.

"Are you?" Sam asked uneasily. "What happened?"

"Teal'C thought he could help me get over these...dreams I've been having. He tried to teach me to Kelnorim. It just made it all worse."

"Did you hear something else? What has you so upset?"

"I'm not upset, okay? I'm just..."

"Upset?"

Jack rolled his eyes in defeat and sat on a kitchen stool.

"What's this?" Jack asked curiously, picking up a picture from the table. Realizing it was from the house in Minnesota, he raised accusing eyes to Sam's red face.

"I picked up a few pictures before we left... I just thought- uh, is that your Mom and Dad?" She gestured to the picture, her curiosity outstripping her need to explain herself. A man and a woman stood arm in arm on the shore of a lake.

"That's not my Dad. It's Miriam Bennett's father. I wonder when this picture was taken?"

Curiousity and suspicion lit Jack's face. He turned the picture over to see if it had a date.

"This was taken the same year that my father died. Find the picture..." Jack muttered under his breath. "Did you say you picked up more pictures?"

"Yes, here." Sam shoved the pile of photographs over to him, watching him anxiously.

"Where'd you find these?" Jack demanded, incredulous.

Sam gulped and her cheeks lit up with a pink tinge. It was confession time.

"I kind of took a tour around the house on my own. There was a trunk, in the attic, and these were inside."

"My mother's trunk. She tried to give it to me when I left home, but we weren't on the best of terms. I put a padlock on it and hid it in the attic so she wouldn't know I'd left it. I didn't want any of her stuff then."

"The trunk wasn't locked when I found it. The pictures were loose, thrown in on top of the the other stuff in the trunk."

Sam looked up, suddenly aware that Jack wasn't listening. He was holding up another of the pictures from the pile and was currently staring at it with a look of horror. His face had gone sickly white.

"What?" Sam breathed, automatically encircling his shoulders supportively. She looked over his shoulder at the picture. There were two men in it. One she recognized now as Miriam's father. The other she had not seen before.

"Is that your Dad?" Sam asked, pointing at the stranger.

Jack stirred from his trancelike state. "No. My father told me 'you will know who it is when you find the picture.' He was right. I do know him. That's him. That's the hunter."

"You mean the man who-"

"That's the man who shot my father."

Sam's mouth fell open. "Miriam's father knew him," she observed in a strangled tone.

Jack was thinking fast and furiously now, and saying his thoughts out loud.

"After Dad died, Miriam and her father were around our place a lot. My mother and him grew close. I think he helped her through the grief of losing her husband. But he moved away from North Inlet just before I left home for good. Mom and he had a falling out, I seem to remember. A few years after that, Miriam moved in with my Mother to serve as a companion of sorts, a nurse I guess. Mom's health was frail for the rest of her life."

"What was he like?"

"Cold. Hard. Calculating. I couldn't stand him. And he didn't much care for me either. But my Mom seemed to need him. So I tolerated him and his daughter. For my Mother's sake. What did he do? What did he have that man do?"

Jack's face crumpled and he turned from Sam, but she didn't allow him to hide himself completely away from her strength. She wrapped both of her arms around him from behind and comfortingly soothed her hands across his shoulders and chest.

They were both realizing that they had dug down to an ugly, dark vein in Jack's past that was only now beginning to be revealed. Sam knew he needed her now more than he ever had in his life. And she intended to walk this thing through with him, every step of the way.

After a few moments, Sam felt the tightness in Jack's muscles ease off and he turned around to face her, his hands slipping gently onto her shoulders, leaning on her both physically and emotionally. His expression was grief stricken.

"That picture we found, that first day you showed up in North Inlet, the one with my mother's shadow in it? It must have been Miriam's father. That's who the other shadow was. He came to the funeral with us. I remember now. I was angry that he sat with my mother and I at the funeral... I remember that all I wanted to do right then was punch him. I remember feeling so angry."

"You remember that?" Sam asked.

Jack went on, unable to stop the floodgates of memories and feelings now opened.

"In Kelnorim, with Teal'C today, I saw my father just like in the dreams. He appeared to me. In my mind. He said, 'she betrayed me.' And then he said, 'she wanted it for herself.' And something about a floor, and a key that's hidden. What does it mean?"

Sam couldn't help reaching out to wipe away a stray tear from Jack's anguished face.

"My mother, he must have meant my mother. He thought she betrayed him somehow."

"Wait. Jack, I'm having a hard time believing your father really appeared to you, in a dream or in meditation. I'm a scientist. We've seen a lot of incredible things out there in the universe, but I still don't believe in ghosts. These things must be coming from your memories. They must be things you already know somehow, but you've just forgotten them."

"I don't think so, Sam. How could I have forgotten stuff like this?"

"Maybe you only know pieces of what really happened. Look, you've just now remembered about Miriam's Dad being with you and your Mom at the funeral that day. Your memories don't make sense because they are the fractured memories of a young boy. I'm guessing you forgot them for that very reason, because they didn't make sense to you. Now. If your mother...really did... betray your father..."

Sam hated saying that out loud.

"...then I think you need to go back to Teal'C. Let him help you search your mind. Maybe he can help you put the pieces of memories back together. You need to get to the bottom of all this."

"Okay. I'll go to the SGC right now."

"Uhh. You look wiped, Jack. How about some food first? And do you think you can sleep some?"

He nodded uncertainly, letting Sam call the shots for now.

"Sure. I'll try."

The lost look on his face said otherwise, and it came close to breaking Sam's heart.

_A/N: Thanks for following along! This fic is taking on a life of its own I fear. My husband, out of his very vivid imagination, has given me some ideas for the plot with some really cool twists and turns so get ready. The dream with his Dad's ghost and the Kelnorim were his ideas to give credit where due. Evvie_


	5. Betrayal Revealed: Part II

Sam had just finished cleaning her kitchen after a simple meal shared with Jack. She slipped noiselessly into a chair in her den where Jack was sleeping soundly on her couch. His deep breathing, almost a snore, assured her that he was finally getting some much needed rest.

Sam allowed herself the luxury of watching him as he slept. It was a rare opportunity for her to just be able to study his sweet, familiar face and to be in his presence without complications. The years spent working so closely together had served to build a friendship and a companionship rarely found between two people in any situation, but even so, Sam longed for so much more. She hoped and planned that there would someday be time for just them, together at last.

Unable to fall asleep, Sam puttered about aimlessly for a bit and eventually found herself back at the kitchen table, sifting through the piles of old pictures that had so captured her curiosity.

One in particular caught her eye.

In it, a pleasantly grinning man dressed in fishing gear was crouched next to a young boy she now recognized as Jack. The affection they shared was evident in both their faces. Jack-the-boy, she realized with a pang, looked wholly secure and happy encircled in the older man's arms. Sam smiled whimsically at the undeniable bond they shared.

Surely this was Jack's father? Sam gazed longingly at the image of the boy who had grown up to become the man she knew so well and loved so dearly. She turned the picture over to see if any identifying notes might be on the back.

There were no words, but there was a diagram, drawn in ink. A square with lines running through it contained a few other figures, resembling a blueprint of sorts. A small 'x' had been carefully inked into the lower right-hand quadrant of the square. It made no sense to her.

Sam determined to ask Jack about it when he awoke. Feeling tired herself at long last, she tucked the curious picture into her laptop case and curled up in the easy chair across from where Jack lay sleeping soundly on the couch.

* * *

"Sam? Hey, Sam. You awake?" 

She awoke to the sight of two alert brown eyes, lit with antsy impatience, filling her field of vision.

"I am now," She complained feebly.

"Let's go see Teal'C," Jack suggested brightly. "You've been asleep long enough."

"Long enough! I just fell asleep-"

"-four hours ago. That's more than long enough."

"mmmmmohno.."

"Carter."

"Yeshirr," Sam slurred obediently, somehow standing up and tottering towards her bedroom. "Be ready in five."

"That's more like it."

* * *

"You must endeavor to concentrate, O'Neill," Teal'C commanded. 

Jack opened his eyes with a moan of utter frustration. Teal'C had been coaching him in Kelnorim for well over an hour now. Jack had been spectacularly unsuccessful this time in his efforts to meditate.

"I need a break," Jack finally protested.

"Perhaps so, O'Neill," Teal'C agreed readily. "Come back when you are ready to proceed."

Jack went straight to Sam's lab. His spontaneous explosion of laughter caused the sleeping woman to jerk awake and almost fall off her perch on the lab table.

"Sir, please, you startled me," she tried to explain.

"I can see that, sleeping beauty," Jack guffawed.

"I was just resting. How was Kelnorim?"

"I got nothing. You know, I'm just going to forget the whole thing. I didn't have any dreams last night, and I feel great this morning. You were probably right, being back in that house just stirred up some old memories is all. Memories that are best left alone. So, I'm off to my office to get caught up on some very annoying paperwork."

"Ahh, sir, before you go," Sam pulled the picutre out of her laptop case that she had placed there the night before, "...look at this, would you?"

Jack saw what she had and put his hands out as if to fend her off.

"No more, Carter, I'm done with this stuff. I mean it."

"But look at the back of this..."

"Nah ah ahh!" Jack pointed at the door. "See you for lunch later on?"

"Sure," Sam admitted defeatedly.

After Jack practically ran out of her lab, Sam sat studying the diagram. It looked like a blueprint of a room. She thought furiously, mentally combining all the various clues Jack had heard in his dreams with what she already knew about the house and his past.

Perhaps this was a room somewhere in the old house, showing where Jack's father had hidden something.

She had to get back to that house in Minnesota.

The next day was Friday, so Sam booked herself a flight and a rental car for that evening. She had managed to get hold of the key to Jack's mother's house quite easily, as Jack had left it in her kitchen in his haste to return to the SGC. A small portion of her conscience pricked at her for going behind his back, but she knew Jack would not be able to put this out of his mind for long. There were too many unanswered questions. And Sam really wanted to be the one to come up with some of the answers for Jack.

Work dragged by slowly on Friday for Sam. She almost blew it when Jack stopped by her lab unexpectedly in the afternoon, right when she was checking her e-ticket for the tenth time and mentally going over her preparations for the weekend.

"What'cha got there, Carter?" Jack's voice rang out.

"Uh, just tickets for...a concert..." she had tried to think of something that would have no interest for Jack at all.

"Oh, really? Who?"

"Uh, just, uh, classical stuff, boring, huh?" she responded with a hopeful smile.

"Actually, I love classical music."

Was he really standing there, expecting to be invited?

"Oh, well, uh, if you'd like to..."

Jack backed off, suddenly aware that he was putting her on the spot. He'd felt so comfortable with her lately that her sudden distance was confusing him. And hurting him, too, if he could admit it.

"Hey, Sam, I'm not trying to force you into taking me. I'm sure you and Pete will enjoy it."

"Jack, you know there's no Pete."

Jack flashed a roguish smile. "Thought I'd just check."

With a knowing woman's gaze, Sam closed the door to her lab. She quickly shoved the ticket out of sight under a file on her desk before approaching Jack, picking up his hands and petting them softly.

"The concert is a few weeks from now. I didn't ask you because I-- didn't think it would be something of interest to you. But, would you like to go with me?"

"Are you asking me out, Carter?"

"I sure am."

Sam was inches from his face, and she could tell by his flustered demeanor that she had successfully diverted his attention from the ticket now hidden on her desk.

"And you're flirting with me on Air Force property," he teased dangerously.

"Is that a yes or a no?"

"Yes, I'd love to go, thanks, Carter. Really."

Jack had taken a step backwards, trying to recover his professional perspective in case anyone was to drop by Sam's lab while they were talking so informally.

"Okay then."

Outwardly, she looked calm, but inwardly Sam was making a frantic mental note to research and find a classical concert and get tickets.

Soon.

"I'd better finish this up," Sam added, gesturing at the files on her desk. She took the opportunity to look more closely at the file hiding the airplane ticket, making sure none of the edges were sticking out. Satisfied that she had covered her plans, she looked back at him.

"Got big plans for the weekend, Carter?" Jack was standing at the door now, with one hand poised on the knob.

"Oh, actually, I'm going out of town."

"Oh." Jack looked somewhat disappointed. "Well, have fun, then. See you Monday."

"Have a good weekend yourself, sir."

She smiled at him in relief and melted inside at the tender smile he returned her way. But he quickly ducked out without another word. She should have known that, as private a man as Jack was, he would respect her privacy also and not push for more information about her weekend plans.

The sun had long since set and a full moon was on the rise by the time Sam pulled up in a rental car to the front door of Jack's childhood home. The same feeling of creepy unease assailed Sam as she had felt on her first visit here. This place had all the appearances of a classic haunted house.

She let herself in with the key she had managed to keep in her possession, and lit the oil lamps she knew were there, filled and ready for use. Sam presently had a fire going in the old wood stove in the kitchen so she could fix herself a cup of tea before going to sleep. The questions she so hoped to find some answers to, for Jack's sake, could keep until morning. She was exhausted now.

She settled herself onto the couch for the night, placing the steaming cup of tea on the end table. The house seemed infinitely eerier without Jack and she had decided she wasn't up to facing the cold, dark bedroom on the floor above. She pulled her blanket right up to her chin and shut her eyes tightly like a skittish child.

The next morning, Sam got right down to business. She carried the photograph from room to room with the diagram side facing up, looking for a reasonably close match. When she had checked out all the rooms on the first and second floors without success, she repressed a shudder. Sam had really been hoping she wouldn't have to visit the attic floor.

Steeling her resolve, Sam cautiously crept up the stairs, actually an overbuilt ladder, to the attic.

The diagram immediately made sense.

Orienting herself accordingly, she soon located a floorbaord at approximately the position of the 'x' on the back of the picture.

"Here goes," she said out loud to the empty room. Sam pried up the floorboard with the point of a swiss army knife. It came up with little effort revealing a cavity underneath.

"Bingo," Sam exclaimed in delight. She loved it when she figured out puzzles like this one. Reaching in she carefully extricated an oversized wooden cigar box and lifted the lid. She was practically drooling with anticipation.

Which is probably why she hadn't heard the approach of another person.

"Put your hands on your head and turn around real slow," a deep male voice commanded.

Sam froze for a second, and then did as she was instructed. Her eyes opened wide in fearful recognition of the sinister old man standing over her. After staring for several agonizing moments, he roughly waved her away from the box and grabbed it up.

"Okay, down the ladder, and don't try anything, if you want to stay alive," he threatened.

Sam was assessing her chances of making a run for it anyway. She'd escaped from far more dangerous situations than this in her years at SG1. But he had a gun, so she decided to do what he said for now. She backed down the ladder and waited for him to do the same.

"Now turn around, keep your hands up, and go downstairs, lady."

Sam proceeded down the stairs, one slow step at a time, until she stood at the front entrance. She could feel the intruder's presence right behind her. There was a pause while the man seemed to be debating with himself what to do with her, and Sam knew this might be her only chance.

She could see his image reflected in the transom of the door in front of her, so she swung her leg around with as much force and surprise as she could muster and kicked the gun out of the man's hands.

His scream of rage rang out and he lunged for her, but she somehow evaded his grasp and made it out the door, dashing off into the dark woods. Running blindly into the wild undergrowth, she quickly outran him, but didn't stop out of fear of being recaptured. Soon she had no sense of where she was, only that she had to keep running and must not stop.

* * *

Jack got up early Saturday morning, disturbed by yet another dream about his father. 

This one had been the most unnerving one yet. His father had taken him to the attic, and was trying to show him something. But a scream had interrupted them both. He had followed his father down the stairs and out of the house, but found nobody.

Then he had been alone in the attic. There was something up there he was supposed to have, that his father wanted him to have. Just for him alone. His mother was not supposed to know.

Then another scream pierced his dream, and he had awoken in a cold sweat, unable to recover from a gripping sense of dread.

He'd started to dial Sam's number, then remembered she was out of town and dialed her cell instead. It clicked into her voice mail without ringing.

"This is Samantha Carter, please leave a message..."

"Sam. Just wanted to talk, but no big deal. It can wait. Hope you're having a good weekend. Uh, see you. On Monday, I mean. Umm, bye."

Hanging up, Jack sighed and decided to go to work. Maybe he would spend some time with Teal'C.

On base, Jack began to wander down to Teal'C's quarters, but unaccountably found himself in front of Sam's lab.

"You've got it bad, buddy," he admonished himself with a wry smile. He let himself in and meandered around the familiar setting, wishing Sam hadn't gone away for the weekend. Even though he'd just seen her yesterday before she left, it felt like a week had gone by.

He missed her, he realized tenderly.

Walking past her desk, he noticed the files that she had left there from yesterday, and remembered thinking he'd seen her shove something under there, out of the corner of his eye. After some hesitation, he picked up the file. And found the e-ticket.

To Minneapolis.

"Oh no, Sam," he spoke out loud to the empty room, his heart clenching with sudden, cold, terror.

He didn't know how, or why, but somehow he just knew she was in mortal danger.

_TBC... I know, I hate cliffhangers too...more is on the way!_


	6. SG1 to the rescue!

_A/N: Okay, okay, sorry, sorry, sorry about all the loose ends left hanging after the last chapter! It was evil (yes Ruth!)... forgiveness? (By the way LanaJoy this is 'almost' a chapter a day now, isn't it?)_

_HEARTFELT Thanks also to csl, froggy0319, igotnothin, ann-sgcfan, janissima, aligewe, trtlsoup, jj, Gillian, stargatefan, ilovesg1,vamp, jaka, SLDM12, Samantha, ascifigirl, Kurnal Jack, O'Neill with 2 L's, Charlie, babmidnight, Natters, dottid, feb04, Gateseeker02, misstweedledee, BuckeyeBelle, GLE, Matt1969 for writing reviews! I used a lot of your questions/suggestions to figure out where to take this- thanks for all the great input. You are so encouraging!_

_So...down to the last few chapters now..._

* * *

It was Saturday afternoon. Jack, Daniel, and Teal'C were driving much faster than the posted speed limits in their desperation to get to North Inlet. Jack had checked all the flight schedules and realized it would take just as long to fly and rent a car as it would to drive. So they drove, during which he filled in Daniel and Teal'C on all the events that had led up to this rescue mission. For a rescue mission it was. Jack could only hope they'd get to Sam in time. 

"So you had no idea Sam would do something like this until you found the e-ticket this morning?" Daniel asked again.

"I should have known she couldn't let go of it. She tried to ask me about something she'd found in my legal papers and I blew her off. I was tired of it all and told her I was going to just forget about it."

"Knowing Sam, that didn't go over well." Daniel commented.

"Well, I didn't stick around long enough to see her reaction."

"Even worse, Jack."

"Samantha Carter does not let go of a question until she has found the answer."

"You're right, T. Now that sounds like something you found in a fortune cookie," Jack quipped as he drove.

"Actually, the last fortune cookie I ate told me I would soon take an unexpected journey."

"Oooh," Daniel hummed appreciatively.

A lull in the conversation allowed Daniel to become aware of Jack's depressed state of mind.

"You okay?"

"I just hope Sam's okay," Jack confessed heavily.

"She will be," Daniel tried to convince them all.

* * *

Sam had given out after running through the woods for over an hour. She was now crouched in some thick underbrush on the side of a rocky hill, gasping for air and hoping the sound didn't carry. She could hear nothing around her except the natural sounds of the wild, which served to soothe her nerves a bit as she caught her breath. She was pretty sure she'd lost the old man, who hadn't looked like he could run for more than a few feet at a time. But, unfortunately, she'd lost herself, too. She had no idea where she was, and there was no sign of civilization anywhere. 

After a few more minutes, she got up again and looked around. At this point, one direction was as good, or as bad, as another. She chose to stick to the ridge and resumed walking. She figured she had about four more hours of daylight. That was how long she had to find water and shelter. Sam repressed a shudder.

* * *

Howard Bennett was furious, scared, and desperate. He hadn't expected to find anyone at the old O'Neill house, much less a stranger in the process of unearthing the very thing he'd been looking for all these years. He'd come to town to visit his daughter, Miriam, and had been shocked to discover she had given away the house and all its contents to the son of his nemesis, Jack O'Neill, and now this younger Jack had put the home up for sale. They had had a terrible shouting match and Howard had stormed out of her house, leaving her behind in a state of hysterics. 

Wanting one last chance to look for the key to the lockbox where he believed the elder O'Neill's fortune to be hidden, Howard Bennett had snuck back into the old house and had been surprised to find he was too late. Now he had the box, but there was a woman out there somewhere who would ruin everything for him.

Unless she was stopped.

Bennett returned to Miriam's and walked in without knocking. He found her huddled miserably on a chair in her kitchen. He dropped the cigar box on the table in front of her.

"What's that?" She asked in a trembling voice.

"It's our reward for all we've been through, these last forty, stinkin' years."

"Where did you get it?"

"It was in the attic. Open it. Now maybe you'll understand why Mary O'Neill and I did what we did."

Miriam shoved the box away with vehemence. "There's no excuse for what you and she did! And the two of you lied to me! You told me I deserved to keep that house, that Jonathan O'Neill hated his mother and was no kind of son to her, and that he caused his father's hunting accident."

"That O'Neill boy did hate his mother."

"No, Daddy! You hated him! Only you! You hated him because he kept you from getting what you wanted. His mother! And her house!" Miriam sobbed.

"All I ever wanted is sitting in that box in front of you," Howard sneered evilly. "Open it."

"No!" Infuriated even further, Howard shoved the frail woman roughly onto the floor and threw open the lid. His eyes widened in anger and he screamed furiously.

"No!"

A lone fishing lure lay in the box.

"O'Neill has the key already! He's trying to play games with me. He thinks he's got the best of me, does he? I'm going to find her and kill that woman and show O'Neill he can't mess with me. That money was supposed to be mine!"

"What woman? Daddy, no!" Miriam tried to get up and run after the crazy old man but he was quickly gone. She followed after him as he ran outside but could not stop him.

"No, no," she sobbed, her breath coming in short, agonized gasps. She sank down into a heap on the porch of her home.

* * *

Pulling up to his house, O'Neill could tell something was wrong before they got out of the truck. The front door was wide open. Tracks in the dirt just beyond the porch indicated there'd been a scuffle. Teal'C, the master Jaffa tracker, was already following the footprints. 

"Someone ran in that direction," Teal'C pointed up the hillside towards the wilderness.

"Sam? Sam?" Daniel and Jack were calling her, one on his way inside and the other running out towards the trees. There was no answer anywhere.

"Keep looking for her. I'm going to ask Miriam a few questions," Jack yelled, jumping into the truck and rushing off. He could hear them calling Sam's name as he drove away.

"Miriam!"

Pulling up to the Bennett house, Jack hit the ground running and was at the prone woman's side in an instant. He pulled her to a sitting position and gently patted her face. Her eyes opened, accompanied by a moan.

"Jonathan," she acknowledged his presence. "I'm okay," she pushed him away a little. "When did you and your friend come back to town?"

"My friend, Samantha, came back yesterday without my knowledge. Do you know where she is now?"

"No. But she's in terrible danger. My father is after her. He said he was going to find her and kill her. My father is not right, Jon, he's not right in his head."

"You have to tell me where he went."

"I don't know, I don't know," she cried.

Swallowing his frustration, Jack carefully helped the sickly woman to her feet and guided her inside, where he settled her on the couch and brought her some water.

"Where's Teddy, Miriam?"

"Gone to town. He'll be back any minute. Don't worry about me. Go find your friend."

"Thanks Miriam." Jack got up to leave. "When I get back, I'll have some questions for you."

"I'll tell you everything I know, I promise. I'm so sorry, Jack. I lied to you. I was wrong to do that." She began to cry again.

"There's been a lot of wrongs done here, Miriam. This whole big mess, it's not your doing. You and I were just kids, do you hear me? We'll sort it out, I promise."

Miriam looked straight at him for the first time since he'd come to North Inlet, and her eyes were filled with thankful tears.

"I hope you find her safe."

"I will."

Jack arrived back at his own house to find Teal'C and Daniel standing in the drive, waiting for him. He jumped out and ran to them.

"T thinks he can track whoever ran into the woods from here."

"Let's go. We've got find Sam before Miriam's father does. He's out here looking for her, too, and Miriam says he's dangerous."

* * *

Sam looked around carefully before approaching the lakeshore to drink. She was so thirsty from her headlong dash through the wild country, and now it was late, almost dark.. Stepping carefully from rock to rock so as to not leave tracks, she sank to her knees at the water's edge and drank greedily. The water was the best she'd ever tasted, and she closed her eyes, relishing its coolness coursing down her throat. 

She suddenly remembered her situation and jerked her eyes back open, alert and searching around her again. The birds had stopped chirping. Sam knew that meant something had scared them into silence.

Sam turned and ran for the cover of the trees. Just as she got to the cover of the underbrush she heard the old man's loony sounding scream from further down the lakeshore.

"Oh no," she breathed desperately. She began to run again, as fast as she could through the tangled brush, up the hill, figuring that would be the hardest for him to keep up with.

But some inner something was driving him, for she could hear his crashing footsteps drawing closer and closer.

"That way!" Jack ordered, pointing in the direction they'd just heard a crazy scream echoing from. "Go!"

Sam was panting and gulping for air now. She was at the top of the ridge, and she could now actually see the man closing in on her. She couldn't believe his strength. Turning right, then left, she arbitrarily picked a direction along the ridge and continued to flee.

"Sam!"

That was Jack! Was she hearing things? Oh, please, let it be him!

"Jack! Over here!" Sam called out.

A shot rang out from behind her and she heard the bullet whistle past her ear. Petrified, she turned down the slope and began a headlong dash back down the hillside towards the sound of Jack's voice, crashing through bushes and tree trunks.

"Jack!"

Another bullet flew past her.

"Come this way, Sam! This way!"

That was Daniel's voice! Her team was here. Sam felt a rush of hope. She charged towards the safety of their voices.

"Daniel! Jack!"

This time her own voice betrayed her. A third bullet found its mark, and with a shout of pain Sam collapsed to the ground.

Jack was at her position in a matter of seconds, while Teal'C, who had finally spotted Bennett, circled around behind the old man and felled him with his zat. He quickly tied the man hand and foot and stood guard over him.

"Sam!" Jack was in a waking nightmare. Here he was on this same hill, among these same trees, and now a bullet had taken down someone else he dearly loved.

This couldn't be happening.

"Sam?" Jack gently lifted her up, his arm behind her neck and shoulders, relieved to find her conscious. Blood streamed from her left shoulder.

"Jack, I'm sorry, this was so stupid, I shouldn't have come here, alone and all, please don't be mad..."

"It's okay, Sam. Shh. It's okay." Jack wadded up his T-shirt and held it against the wound to slow the bleeding.

"Please be okay," he begged her, holding her anxiously against his chest, pressing his face into her hair.

"I will be, it's just my shoulder," Sam answered him faintly. "I've had worse."

Daniel came up to them and put his hand on Sam's knee.

"You had us scared to death," Daniel admonished her.

"Daniel, not now," Jack hushed him, causing Daniel to smirk knowingly at Jack's protectiveness.

"Let's get her back to the truck."

Jack and Daniel each took a side and half carried, half dragged Sam along the trail towards safety. Teal'C had the still unconscious gunman, tied hand and foot, easily slung over his shoulders behind them.

TBC


	7. Jack's back

_A/N: This is it, the last chapter...gets a little fluffy at the end but what did you expect? (Don't go there first, no no no! ...slaps hands away from mouse... You have to read it in order!)_

"General O'Neill?"

Jack rose to his feet in the hospital waiting room, focusing an instantly intense gaze on the surgeon approaching him.

"Doctor?"

"Colonel Carter is in recovery. She's going to be fine."

"Can I see her?"

"She'll be under for a while yet, but you're welcome to sit with her. Just one of you, for now."

Jack glanced down at Daniel and Teal'C. They nodded their affirmation.

"Thanks Doctor. Oh... what about Ms. Bennett?"

"She's been treated for some mild dehydration and will be released shortly."

"We'll take her home, Jack, you go see Sam."

Jack nodded his thanks to his friends and followed the surgeon to the recovery room. There was Sam, laying very still and pale in a bed in the far corner. She was the only occupant of the room. Jack looked back at the doctor just as he was about to leave.

"Uh, Doc," he stopped him. "Colonel Carter is part of a classified program in Colorado Springs. I've instructed our doctor there to call you and arrange the Colonel's transfer to our facilities sometime today. Anything you can do to expedite her transfer would be greatly appreciated."

"I understand, General." He nodded, then turned and left Jack to watch over Sam.

Sam was already beginning to stir around feebly as her consciousness fought the remaining anesthesia in her bloodstream. Jack leaned in close to her face, watching her eyes flutter.

"Sam, you're in the hospital. Sam?"

"Mmmfph."

"It's me, Sam. Hey there. It's Jack. You're in recovery and you're going to be fine. Can you understand me?"

"Sschure." Her eyes blinked open and managed to stay open this time.

"Jack."

She smiled sweetly, and Jack's heart made an odd little leap in his chest. It was so good to see life in her eyes again and to know she was okay.

"You've had surgery to repair the bullet wound to your shoulder. You're going home today or tomorrow, and you're going to be just fine."

"What about Miriam's father?"

"He's in police custody for now."

"How's Miriam taking all this?"

"She's pretty upset about it all. I'm going over to talk with her in a little while. We've got a lot to discuss."

"I wish I could go with you."

"I wish you could too," Jack answered fervently, gripping her hand.

"Hey, Jack? Don't forget. As soon as I'm up and around, we have a concert to go to."

Jack smiled uncertainly, and Sam thought he almost looked nervous.

"Uh, Sam, I know you made that up. About the concert. I went back to your lab Saturday morning to see what time the concert was. I saw you stuff something under the papers on your desk on Thursday, so I went back to do some snooping. I found the ticket- not to a concert, was it now? That's how I found out you came up here."

"I'm sorry I told you a lie. I didn't know what else to do. I could tell you didn't want to come back up here. Jack, I still want to take you to a concert."

"Come on Sam," he protested uncomfortably. "You don't have to do that."

"But I want to. I'll find one. I have a date with you, General, and you're not getting out of it that easily."

At that, Jack relaxed and smiled openly. "Yeah?"

"You bet." Sam reached out and put her hand on his unshaven cheek. "Forgive me?"

"Of course."

Jack couldn't help himself. He was kissing her before his brain had time to realize what his lips were doing. And then his brain decided it wasn't all that bad of a decision anyway. Sam's hands crept around the back of his neck and tugged him closer. The kiss continued on in the most delightful of ways.

"I guess the patient is doing well, hmm?" The voice of a nurse interrupted.

"Amazing," Jack mumbled against Sam's mouth.

Sam pulled back, blushing.

"And the color in her face has improved greatly," the nurse approved laughingly. "Maybe I'll come back and check your vitals a bit later."

"Yeah, why don't you do that," Jack agreed, his eyes never leaving Sam.

When Sam fell asleep again, Jack decided it was time to have that talk with Miriam. He drove back to Miriam's home in North Inlet, where Daniel, Teal'C, Teddy and Miriam were sitting in her living room eating fast food burgers and drinking cokes. Miriam was just picking at the fare they had bought for her, but the three men were happily wolfing down their sandwiches.

"Jonathan," she greeted him nervously.

"Miriam. You feeling better?"

"Yes. How is Colonel Carter?"

"She's going to be just fine. So, Miriam, do you feel like telling me what started all this? Why was your father after Sam?"

"The story starts long before today, Jonathan. I'll tell you what I know."

She took a deep breath. Daniel and Teal'C stood to leave, but Jack stopped them.

"Stay, if you want; I'd, uh, I'd really like you to stay."

They sat back down, deeply honored by Jack's trust.

Miriam looked around at her audience and began.

"When you left home years ago, my father began openly spending a lot of time with Mary. Your mother was lonely, a widow, so I thought nothing of it. But my father had nothing good to say about you, Jonathan. Ever since I was a small girl, he said bad things to me about you and your father. He thought your mother had a sad life, and he felt sorry for her, he said. It was just me and my father then, so I believed him. As a result I didn't like you."

"I remember." Jack softened his comment with a tender smile. "Go on."

"After I was grown, my father found work in another town and left North Inlet, but I kept the house for him here. When he left, he suggested that I work for your mother, who was not well and needed a housekeeper. So I did. Your mother continued to build my poor opinion of you. She felt like you avoided all contact with her."

Jack nodded unhappily. "I guess I did."

"Well, it hurt her. I felt even angrier at you. I understand now why you stayed away. But back then, I came to the conclusion that I was more her family than you. So when she died, I was angry that she had left her estate to you in spite of your indifference towards her. I forged a different will. And you didn't catch on; you didn't contest it.

Then about a year ago, my father came to visit. He was acting very strangely, and he kept insisting that there was money hidden somewhere in your mother's house, and that it was his. Well, your mother had spoken of your father's lost fortune to me a few times. She said he was from a rich family, but she never got any benefit from that. I knew the money, wherever it was, couldn't be Dad's. He was acting crazy. But I began to be suspicious of just what he did know about your parents, so I looked around the house myself.

I discovered pictures. And letters. Proof that your mother had had an affair with my father. An affair that had started before your father died, and went on for years. I was shocked that I never knew, but it made sense to me, strangely enough.

I confronted my father. He became very angry, and accused me of betraying him. Imagine! I betrayed him?"

Miriam stopped to catch her breath, and Jack handed her a glass of water.

"He said some things about your father then that horrified me. He said your father had hidden his money from your mother, because he knew she had been unfaithful. He said your father deserved what he got. And that he and Mary deserved every penny of that money. I began to suspect that my father had had a part in your father's death. I had always heard that his death was an accident, but I wasn't so sure any more.

So I called you, Jonathan. And gave it all back. I didn't want to know any more about the whole dirty business, but I wanted a clean conscience. I thought you could get some happiness back by having your house and your parent's things, but that you need never know the rest."

Miriam stopped and waited, watching for his reaction.

"I guess I should be upset. I mean, about my mother's part in this, but to tell you the truth, I'm not. I guess I knew, somehow. I've always known something was wrong there. So...why did your Dad come back? And why was he after Sam?"

"He wanted one last chance to look for the money before the house was sold to strangers. He was very angry that I'd given the house back to you. I told him that you were considering putting it up for sale.

When he went in the house he surprised Colonel Carter just as she was pulling this out of a hidden cranny..." Miriam pointed to the cigar box.

Jack got up. "So, what's in it?" He asked.

Miriam's face broke out in a cynical smirk. "You won't believe it. It's of no value at all. My father spent his whole life chasing a fantasy. Fitting, wouldn't you agree?"

Miriam walked slowly to the fireplace and pulled the old box off the mantelpiece. Turning to Jack, she placed it in his outstretched hands.

Jack lifted the lid. Smiling with a dawning light of recognition, Jack reached in and reverently held up for all to see a brightly feathered fishing lure. Jack burst into triumphant laughter.

"What is it, Jack?" Miriam asked curiously.

"O'Neill, does this object have some significance for you?" Teal'C questioned.

"You betcha. Come on, I have to take you somewhere. You'll see."

Jumping to his feet, Jack waved them all outside towards his truck.

Minutes later, Jack pulled up at the side of the highway just out of town. The beginnings of a dirt trail led away from where he had parked and down through the woods towards the lake. Jack jumped out and took Miriam by the arm. Haltingly, he led the entourage down a short, sandy path that ended at a rundown fishing shack perched on the side of the sparkling lake. Jack left Miriam's side and went to the door.

"Dad and I kept this padlocked. The key is over here." Jack pulled a worn, tarnished key out of a wooden cubbyhole under the eaves. He ably unlocked the door and pushed it open.

They walked into the little shack, almost filling the whole thing up just by standing together inside. Jack walked with calm surety to a set of shelves built into the far wall, lined with lures, and pointed to an empty hook.

"That's where this lure goes," he announced. Reaching up, he grasped the hook and unscrewed it from the wall. As it came out, the end of the screw was revealed to be curved, and pulling on it served to open a small door just big enough to hide a small object.

"My Dad and I built this little compartment together. It was our secret mailbox." Jack's voice cracked and fell silent.

Jack reached in and pulled out a small parcel, wrapped in paper and secured with a rubber band. The rubber band was so old that it fell apart as soon as Jack tried to remove it. He removed a key from the wrapping and then opened up the wrapping paper itself. With a voice full of hushed anticipation he read:

"Box Number 503, Minneapolis Bank of America."

Jack looked around at the chorus of open mouths.

"Now what do you suppose is in that lockbox?"

* * *

Sam was bored. 

Bored, bored, and even more bored.

Not only was Jack still gone, but Daniel and Teal'C were with him. The SGC doctor was being overly cautious with her and she was currently confined to the infirmary. Without a laptop.

Bored.

Bored.

Bored.

With a huge exhale of bored air particles, Sam got out of bed, against her doctor's express wishes, and unearthed her cell phone from her bag that lay at the foot of the bed. She dialed, hoping against hope he would answer this time.

He did.

"Jack! Where are you? Why haven't you been answering your phone, for crying out loud?"

Jack chuckled on the other end. "Sorry, no cell service in the sticks. We 're on the way home now."

"That's great news! How close are you? I'm so tired of sitting here with nothing to do!"

"Okay, number one, that's good for you. Number two, Daniel, Teal'C and I are at about Level...7...8..."

"AGGHH! You're HERE?"

"18..."

Sam hung up just as the three men walked through the door.

"I can't believe you're here!"

Sam was beside herself. The doctor was suddenly in the room with them, frowning disapprovingly.

Sam quickly deposited herself on the bed.

"See, laying down..." she smiled anxiously. Without a word the doctor sniffed and left.

"Okay, so tell me everything."

"General O'Neill is now in possession of much wealth." Teal'C announced.

"Yeah, he's filthy rich." Daniel confirmed.

"Aw shucks." Jack sat down next to Sam and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, being careful not to jostle the bandaged one.

For the next hour, Sam listened while all three took turns describing the amazing turn of events.

The discovery of the lockbox key in the fishing shack.

The drive from North Inlet to Minneapolis.

The discovery of over five million dollars in bonds carefully socked away in Jack's name in a lockbox in a bank in Minneapolis.

How the first thing Jack did upon cashing in the bonds was to establish a comfortable bank account for Miriam and Teddy.

How Mr. Bennett was now being cared for in a mental institution, getting the help he needed, also paid for by the General.

How Jack had called in his resignation and was now going to finalize it by putting it in writing--

"Okay, guys, stop, that's enough, Sam's getting tired." Jack interjected.

Sam looked at Jack accusingly. "Is that true?"

"Look, there will be plenty of time to..."

"You can't resign! The SGC needs you."

"I'm resigning, yes, and retiring from the Air Force. I'm not going anywhere. I'm still going to be around if an emergency comes up."

"Well, what are you going to do?"

Sam felt suddenly very sad. She couldn't bear the thought of not seeing him every day.

"That's kind of up to you. Uh, guys?"

"Oh, yeah," they hemmed and hawed as they quickly exited the room.

"Jack?" Sam asked, wide-eyed.

"We stopped one other place before we came to the SGC. So let me ask you: would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Sam stared, dumbfounded.

Jack began to doubt his timing as the silence continued.

Finally, she smirked, as if she thought he was making fun of her. "Wow, this is way better than a classical concert."

"I'm not kidding around, Sam. Will you marry me?"

A real smile began at the corners of her mouth and slowly captured her entire face with an expression full of a blinding joy.

"I would love to."

"Good," Jack breathed in relief, "because like I said, we made one other stop. I bought this."

He pulled a small velvet box from his pocket and gently, carefully pried it open.

There sparkled the biggest diamond Sam had ever seen, with the exception of the Hope Diamond she'd seen once from behind a protective barrier in Washington, DC.

She couldn't speak. Or breathe.

"Put it on. It's..." Jack pulled out a certificate, "...15 and ½ carats."

"Good Lord, Jack, I can't wear that to the grocery store!"

"Oh," he said disappointedly, "you want me to take it back?"

"Not yet," Sam countered hurriedly, holding out her left hand with a regal flourish. "Not yet."

The End

_and yet_

The Beginning

_for Jack and Sam_

_A/N: Okay, before anyone comments, I have no idea if there is a 'Minneapolis Bank of America' or how much a 15 ½ carat diamond costs. (I know there is a 'Mall of The Americas', does that count?)This is pure fiction/fantasy/fluff. Okay? Okay. Now that we got that straight, thanks so much for reading!_


End file.
